Irreplaceable
by DaLiza
Summary: Fitz suspects that Simmons has been replaced with a LMD.


Her lips don't taste the way they should.

Simmons and I are in our apartment, going through our usual morning routine: shower and get dressed, have breakfast in Simmons's beloved breakfast nook, brush teeth, and leave for the lab.

After I brush my teeth, I open the bathroom door to find Simmons waiting for me. "Are you ready to go?" She asks.

"Almost. I just need to do one more thing." I put my hands on her face and kiss her.

Kissing Simmons is one of my favorite things, but today it feels...wrong.

"Are you okay, Fitz?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." I wrap my arms around her to lose myself in her warmth. That feels wrong too. Am I going mental? Maybe the stress of almost dying in another dimension has gotten to me.

I'll figure out what's wrong later. Right now we have to get going or we'll be late.

We work beside each other for hours. The more time I spend with Simmons, the more I'm convinced that something is off about her. Usually Simmons and I are so in sync that we can finish each other's sentences. But not today. Today we're on different wavelengths entirely.

When she speaks, her speech seems a little too precise, like someone learning a new language. And then there are her reflexes. When a lab tech drops a beaker, she catches it with seemingly supernatural speed. Did she become an inhuman overnight?

No, I'm pretty sure I would have noticed traces of a terragenesis cocoon in our bedroom.

So...what is going on?

I stop working for a few minutes and watch her move about the lab. Her movements are like her speech, too precise. Almost mechanical.

Mechanical.

Like an android? Has Simmons been replaced by a LMD?

No. Impossible.

Except that this is S.H.I.E.L.D., where impossible things happen everyday.

Who could have done such a thing?

Radcliffe.

No. He's my mate. We watch football together. We worked on Aida together. I can't believe he would do anything to Simmons.

Of course, there was a time when I was sure Ward would never hurt any of us…

But Radcliffe isn't Ward.

If not Radcliffe, then who?

No one else is as familiar with LMD technology. Well, no one except Aida. But Aida wouldn't…

The Darkhold. I had her read it.

Maybe it corrupted her programming somehow.

Could the Darkhold affect a synthetic brain?

Maybe I'm imagining things. We have enough troubles these days without me inventing ridiculous scenarios.

I walk up to Simmons and smile at her. She smiles back.

That's when I know.

Whoever or whatever is standing before me isn't my Simmons. When Jemma smiles, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

I have to talk to Aida.

* * *

I find her alone in Radcliffe's lab.

"It is good to see you, Agent Fitz," she says. "Can I be of assistance?"

Stay calm. If Aida becomes agitated, I'll be no match for her strength. "Aida, Simmons is acting strangely. I think...is it possible that someone could have replaced her with a LMD?"

"Yes, Agent Fitz."

"Yes? It is possible?"

"I replaced Agent Simmons with a LMD."

Stay calm. Keep breathing. "Why...why would you do that?"

"You have always been nice to me, Agent Fitz. I wanted to do something nice for you."

"For me?"

"Yes. Dr. Radcliffe says that you and Agent Simmons are in love. He says you would be devastated if anything happened to her, so I replaced her with a LMD who is impervious to illness or injury. I thought that would please you."

I put my head in my hands. I can't breathe. "Aida...did you...did you hurt the real Simmons?"

"Yes. I did what was necessary to render her unconscious."

Any pretense of remaining calm is out the window now. "Radcliffe didn't make you to hurt people! You were supposed to protect us!"

"The real Agent Simmons is protected. Once she was incapacitated, I transferred her to a stasis pod."

"Where's the pod, Aida? WHERE'S SIMMONS?"

"You are upset." Aida looks confused.

"Of course I'm upset!"

"I do not understand. Agent Simmons is safe now."

"Aida…"

How do I explain it? How do I make her understand?

"You've experienced physical pain. You know how that feels. Well, for me, not knowing where Simmons is...it's painful, Aida. Losing someone you love is the worst pain you can imagine."

"I do not want you to be in pain."

"Then help me, Aida. If you want to do something nice for me, take me to Simmons."

* * *

Aida leads me deep into the bowels of the base, to a hidden room I didn't know existed. She enters a code into a keypad and the door opens, revealing a cold, darkened room filled with scientific equipment. My eyes dart around the room frantically until I see Simmons standing in a pod against the back wall, her eyes shut as if sleeping.

"Jemma!" I run over to her.

"I am sorry for upsetting you, Agent Fitz," Aida says.

"I know. I'm sorry too." I take the taser out of my jacket and shoot her. The electricity overloads her circuits, forcing a shut down. "We're going to have to dismantle you."

I drop the taser and fumble with the controls of the pod until I get it opened. Frozen air blasts my face. I pull Jemma out of the pod and into my arms.

"It's okay, Jemma." I hold her freezing body against my own as I carry her to the medical bay. "You're going to be okay."

Please be okay.

* * *

A few hours later, she regains consciousness. The first word she says is my name.

"I'm here."

She reaches out a hand to me. I hold and kiss it.

"I'm right here."

Her voice is hoarse. "Aida...attacked me. Why did Aida attack me?"

"Maybe Radcliffe and I screwed up her programming. Or maybe the Darkhold is to blame. I don't know, but she thought she was protecting you. She put you in stasis so you'd be safe and then replaced you with a LMD."

"There was a LMD of me walking around the base?" She sounds more confused than angry. "How is that possible?"

"Aida must have accessed the scans I took of your brain and built an android brain based on them. She said she did it for me. She thought having an indestructible girlfriend would make me happy." I laugh bitterly. "This is my fault. I helped Radcliffe with Aida. I kept his secret, then I encouraged Aida to read the-"

"Fitz, stop. Your intentions were noble."

"Tony Stark's intentions were noble, and we know how well Ultron turned out! Aida could have killed you!"

"She didn't kill me, Fitz. And I'm glad you and Radcliffe built her."

"You are? Why?"

"If you hadn't, who would have rescued you and Coulson from the other dimension? Without Aida, I would have lost you forever." She squeezes my hand. "Where are Aida and...the other LMD now?"

"Radcliffe and a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. techs are dismantling them. Radcliffe asked me to help, but I told him I needed to be here for you when you woke up. He understood. He feels terrible about the whole thing."

"I'm sorry, Fitz. I know how much you liked Aida."

"It's alright. She was only a machine…a machine that hurt my best friend." I kiss a bruise on the side of her forehead. "I love you."

She smiles at me. A real Jemma Simmons smile, not the pathetic imitation her LMD gave me. "I love you too."

* * *

The next day, Simmons is discharged from the medical bay. Her doctors don't think she's suffered any permanent damage, but they say that I should keep a close eye on her for the next 24 hours or so.

Simmons's first instinct is to go back to the lab; she worries about the lab techs messing things up in our absence.

I convince her that we need to take the day off. We've earned some time together as a couple.

We go to our apartment. Simmons is still feeling a little weak, so I encourage her to rest while I make us lunch. I prepare one of her favorite meals, a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup.

After we eat, we decide to take a nap. We get into bed and I pull the covers over our bodies.

With my arms wrapped around her, we lie together in contented silence for a while before I ask, "Do you think we should come up with a code word? Something we can use in the future in case either one of us is replaced by an impostor?"

She's quiet for a moment before she responds. "Manscaping."

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. "Why manscaping?"

"It's a code word Daisy and I had once and it's easy to remember."

"Alright. Manscaping it is. How are you feeling?"

"Better. Except..." Her tone turns playful. "You haven't kissed me yet today."

I smile at her and run my fingers through her hair. "Really? How terrible of me. Let me address that problem right now." We kiss again and again. Each time it feels exactly the way it should. Perfect.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! All comments are greatly appreciated.**


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